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“He’s alright. He has a few more weeks. Said he’d come by to see you when he’s out.”
Mom beamed at my father. “Oh, how wonderful! I’ve missed him so much.”
She gave my arms a squeeze and moved back to let the last person in the room step forward.
He’d grown in my absence. The lanky, idiot teenager I’d left behind had shot up into a broad chested man with stubble along his jaw and a wariness I didn’t think I liked. Edmund had always been the goofy one, the one that made the adults cringe with his ridiculous jokes, the one always ready to try something extra stupid just to see what would happen. This was not the baby brother I remembered. This Edmund had a wall around him, a guarded aura reserved for people who’d seen things and come out the other side jaded and angry.
“Edmund?” I ventured.
His mouth flattened into a straight line. “Welcome home.”
I raised an eyebrow, but replied, “Thanks.”
He seemed to hesitate, blue eyes bouncing from me to our parents watching the exchange with mixed expressions of delight and calm. The muscles of his throat bunched with his hard swallow and his gaze returned to me.
“Thank you,” he blurted. “Thank you for what you did. Thank you for…” his head fell forward, sending a chunk of hair tumbling down over his brow. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re going to make me hit you,” I murmured, immediately drawing his attention to my face, his eyes wide, “for ever thinking you need to thank me or apologize. I’m your brother. It’s my job. Besides,” I gave him a grin,“someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me.”
Despite the hard knot along his jaw, Edmund’s lips twitched. The annoyance in his eyes was a familiar one I would get often when quoting his favorite movie.
“I’m still allowed to—”
“No, you’re not.” I fixed my attention on the other two, taking in their faces. I hadn’t thought I would ever see them again for a while in the beginning. That first year, I was so sure they would change their mind and extend my time. My parents’ faces were one of the few things I wanted to see above all else, especially my mom’s and Kami. “I’m going to stop by my apartment for a moment but will be heading into the office tonight.”
“That can wait until morning—”
I shook my head. “I want to get started.”
He seemed on the verge of protesting, but I had already turned to my mother. I brushed my lips over her soft cheek and promised to see her in the morning.
I turned back in the direction of the door, prepared to make the ride down to my apartment and I nearly made it when my father’s voice pulled me short.
“Did your sister come home with you?”
I stopped to face him. “They were behind me when we left. They should be arriving shortly.”
“Were they excited to see you?” Mom pressed.
I raised a shoulder and let it drop. “Your daughter pulled a gun on me. Kas accused me of escaping and Sasha was, well, Sasha.”
I started to turn away again.
“Kami wasn’t there?” Mom hedged.
I eyed her, not at all fooled by her nonchalance. “She was.”
“And did you say hi?”
I turned my entire body to fully face the woman studying me. “No. I just ignored her the entire weekend like a normal person.”
“Tone,” father muttered with a badly concealed grin.
I sighed. “Yes, of course I said hi.”
“Was she excited to see you?”
Subtlety was never a strong suit where my mother was concerned and her unexpected fascination with Kami had my eyes narrowing.
